OK So it's Tuesday

And I don't really have a lot to talk about, but I am going to try to get back into the blogging thing!

I don't want to upset Froggy, after all!  :)

I was looking back over some of the stuff I posted in the past.  This year has not been very busy at all, especially compared to last year.  The last 3 or 4 years, we were dealing with Bill's job/hell-on-Earth situation and then last year had a lot of car/Otter/Otter's roommate/Otter's multiple moves happening.  But this year has been fairly calm.  Which is a Very Good Thing.

The Presidential election is in a very short few weeks.  I will be so glad when it's over!  It's one of the dirtiest I can recall.  I'm not impressed with either of them.  I'm not normally quiet about who I vote for, but this year I may be.  It's just not a good choice, either way!

I like this one:

And this one:

But I think I have a better choice:

Maggie Moo & Babbicat!  (Babbiecat is J's cat).

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun?

Or when you just get busy and forget about blogging.

It's been over a month since I last even thought about blogging and that was on Star Trek Day.  Guess I'd better get caught up.

Well, for starters Maggie Moo has spent a lot of time visiting the vet.  Her ears were still bothering her so she had to spend more time on the abtibiotic and steroid plus the vet injected the ointment into both ears again.  She finally got over that and then she had a spot come up on the top of one of her toes on her right foot.  We thought it was a tick at first, it was not noticeable on a Thursday but on a Friday it was there.  But it was too late to call the vet so we had to wait until Monday morning.  By Monday morning, it was obviously a cyst and was much larger.  The vet saw her that evening and told me to bring her back the next morning because he was afraid to leave it on any longer since it was growing so fast.  Because of her age, 12 years, he didn't want to put her completely under so she got a little stronger than a local but not quite anesthestized.  He said it came off easily and while she was groggy he also got a few of the skin tags she's developed over the years.  The cyst that was removed from the top of her head a few years ago acted like it was trying to come back, it was a little larger, so he hit it again too.  She was in a cone for a few days and was not happy!  I don't blame her, but that was the only way we could keep her from chewing on her foot.  She got pretty good with that cone, she was very proficient at running into my legs.  She figured out how to eat and get water with it.  But she was glad when it came off and stayed off.

I took Otter and her best friend to see the 30th Anniversary special showing of the movie Labrynth.  It was a lot of fun, we had pizza for lunch and went to a book store since we had plenty of time before the movie.  The movie was very good, it has always been one of my favorites.  But it was also very emotional, for all three of us.  I had plenty of kleenex on hand and we needed them!  I'm glad that Otter was finally able to see it on the big screen, she had only seen it on dvd.  The movie was re-released on blu-ray for the 30th anniversary and I bought it as soon as I saw it.  We had a copy, but it moved out with Otter 2 years ago!  It was released in two versions, one is just the movie but I bought the special one which is neat.  The case looks like a book.  It has a special "Remembering the Goblin King" but I have not watched it yet - too emotional!

We tried a new recipe.  We made pizzas on frozen garlic bread.  We used the sliced Texas Toast version.  It was actually pretty good, but they were not very filling.  We will probably make it again, but we will use more sauce than we did the first time.

Texas played ou and it was not our year.  Since I never got around to getting a Longhorn sticker on my newish car, we didn't have to deal with any of the idiots this year.

Speaking of the newish car, it did have a problem.  After I got my oil changed, the "check engine" light came on and the oil change place checked it for me (it was a couple of days later.)  It was the vent valve to the gas tank and was covered by Chevy's warranty so it didn't cost us anything.  Which is good, but I must admit that when I saw the "check engine" light my first thought was the 2002 impala and all the trouble we had with it!

Otter and I went thrfting one day and we both found several things.  I found a couple of skirts, a nice cardigan sweater and I found this:

It's probably not handmade, but it is also not new.  It's at the very least vintage.  It has a Made in Japan tag, and it was made back when that actually meant something special.  I handwashed it, but I didn't have any place to lay it flat to dry so I had to hang it over the shower curtain rod.  It stretched out a lot more than I wanted it to, so I hung it back over the rod but sideways this time.  Then I sprayed it with water until it was between damp and soaking, and it stretched out sideways.  As it did, it pulled the length back up a bit which is what I was hoping it would do.  It's still longer than it was when I bought it, but it's not too long to wear.  And I will find an occasion to wear it!  It's hanging over the shower curtain in this picture.  It's very delicate and was $2.00 or possibly less.

October 1st was two years since this:

That's Bill's car (the el camino) with nearly everything Otter owned at that point.  She has more furniture, etc. now than she did then so it would take more than one truck load to move her.  Not that she's in any hurry.  The two moves in the same complex last year were enough for her for a long time.  She did consider moving last summer, but that would also have involved a job transfer to another location her employer opened in a near by town but she decided against it.  She's been in her current apartment for nearly a year now and she's going to see about renewing her lease when it expire at the end of November.  She would like a 6 month lease but is probably going to have to sign for another year.  She likes her apartment, it's not too far from work or us and it's close to a lot of things.  But she would like a slightly cheaper rent and that would probably mean a little farther from work. She is thinking that IF she did decide to move to a cheaper apartment, it would be easier to do that in the summer as opposed to the Fall/Winter since her lease runs to the end of November.  Either way, she likes being on her own with no romemate to worry about!

Really Beginning to Wonder...

If we are ever going to have a so-called traditional Thanksgiving meal again.  Last year, we were dealing with Otter's dental issues and the fact that she couldn't eat just about anything!  We made pizza, which worked because it was crispy enough without being too chewy.  This year, we were originally planning on the traditional thing, but then Otter's roommate moved out and the apartment manager is letting her transfer to a one-bedroom unit.  The day before Thanksgiving!

We want to get it done in one day, but that may not be possible.  Otter has to work tonight and will get home fairly late so she will be very tired tomorrow.  Then she has to work the late afternoon shift, since she's the Assistant Pricing Coordinator she has to be there to ensure that they are ready for Black Friday.  So she'll be moving, then stopping for a shower and then heading to work while the rest of us keep working.  Bill still thinks we can do it in one day, but she may not be able to get into the new apartment until noon instead of the 10:00 they originally told her.  The carpet has been replaced and they weren't sure that it would be done by 10:00.  Also, the dishwasher has a leak and the part has been ordered but might not be delivered in time for it to be repaired before she moves in.

And, at the last minute (Monday afternoon) it was discovered that the manager told her the wrong apartment would be hers so she had to scramble to get the electric company and the internet provider situated.  The manager apparently has bad handwriting and some of her letters look alike, I think that this sort of thing has happened to the manager before.  Otter discovered it when she went in to sign the new lease, it's on the same hallway as the one she thought but it is at the front of the building and not around the back.  She's actually happy about that, it means that she will be able to make sun tea next summer after all!  The cable was originally to be switched in the morning but they are now coming in the late afternoon since she probably can't get into the new apartment as early as she thought she would be able to originally.  Because of that and the fact that the holiday is causing them scheduling issues, they are waiving the transfer fee which is a nice thing.

And, as if that's not enough:

It is probably going to rain tomorrow.  Possibly all day.  The plan at this point is to get her mattress and box spring moved first, assuming we can get it done before the rain starts.  Even if the bed frame and headboard are not moved until later, we want to get the bedding itself moved and into the new apartment and keep it dry.  Things like her clothes are packed in trash bags, along with her stuffed animal collection, towels, etc., so they are somewhat protected from rain.  But a lot of her belongings are in boxes, so we may wind up wrapping trash bags around the boxes as well.  We'll see tomorrow.  The rain is not expected to start until afternoon, the timing changes depending on which station the tv happens to be on.  It's actually a 20% chance, which is not too bad.  But the forecasters here are not known for being accurate...

Thursday on is supposed to be very hard rain all day, and there are already flood watches being posted.  Not for our area so much, mostly for southern parts of the state.  But we could get localized street flooding.  Because of that, we aren't really sure when we'll finish up.  We should be able to get everything moved, but she might not be unpacked until Friday afternoon.  Also, the cleaning of the old apartment is tenatively set for Sunday but that may change.  I took my vacuum cleaner over there yesterday, the original plan was that I vacuum as each room is emptied and also wipe down the walls and then we finish cleaning sometime on Thursday morning.  But the office said she can have until Sunday to get everything finished, both because of the holiday and the weather but also because of her work schedule.  They are being very nice about this whole situation.

And now, it's time to go get into the Bluebell in the freezer!

Quick Stuff

Otter's problem with the apartment is situated.  I'm not going into a lot of the details here, but there were issues with Roomie as a roommate from shortly before Christmas and it never got any better.  It involved Roomie's inability to keep a job but there were other issues that came up later.  Although it turned out to be the wrong move in a lot of ways, things did get better when they moved to the larger apartment.  But then other things happened and Otter told Roomie that when the lease was up next summer it would be time for separate apartments.  Unless Roomie had another job issue.  Which she did.  She may have gotten another job but Otter wasn't really sure if that was true or not.  Saturday night, shortly after midnight, I got a frantic call from Otter because she had discovered Roomie packing to move out on Sunday.

She's pretty sure that Roomie did not want her to know and was going to move out when Otter came over to our house to do her laundry.  But since she did find out, we were able to be over there and not let anything other than Roomie's possessions actually be moved.  There was a lot that happened and that's what I'm not going into, but the upshot is that Roomie's father is the biggest bully I have ever met and I am pretty sure that I'm the only person in his life who has ever stood up to him.  It was pretty nasty and involved literally watching every single move anybody made (including Roomie and her brothers) and a threat on my part to call 911 - and I do NOT bluff.  (And it also involved a very strong visit from *RHTW, full blast and full strength.)  And it was pretty obvious to everyone that the bully in question is now afraid of me and frankly, I'm glad.  Otter wanted her dad to come over at that point and he did, he got there after I'd already given the bully an extremely strong verbal lesson but I'm still glad he was there because I really did not know if the bully was going to back down or not - he did, but I really wasn't sure at one point.  The bully would not even look at Bill and I think he was scared of Bill as well.  The bully was absolutely horrible to Roomie and I think that she grew up being treated like something less than human, which explains a few things about her but does not excuse them.  His wife acts like a whipped dog, one son is obviously not the favorite although I think he got treated better than Roomie, but Roomie's twin brother is treated like he's God.  Hopefully, Roomie will be a ok but I don't think that any of us will ever hear from her or see her, unless it's accidental.  I did tell her that she did not have to put up with being treated like that, but I don't know if it will make a difference for her or not.  She had over a year away from being treated like dirt, we hope that she'll at least take away from the experience that she can be an adult and that she does not have to put up with that.

(I can be very fierce when my daughter's safety, health and happiness is threatened.  And Bill would probably be even more fierce.)

One of the concerns Otter had, and we shared, is that if Roomie did move out when she wasn't there that Otter's belongings might not be there when Roomie was through and I think it was a valid concern.  The bully told Roomie to get "everything" out of the kitchen, and I told him very firmly that the majority of the kitchen stuff belonged to Otter because we bought most of it.  Then he told her to just go get the microwave that they bought her, which makes me think that Otter's concern was right and that at least the kitchen stuff would have been gone and quite probably more of Otter's belongings.

After all the not-fun stuff was done and they all left, Bill helped her move her tv from her bedroom to the living room (they'd been using Roomie's) and he stayed for a little while to make sure that the bully in question OR his daughter did not come back and then he left.  Otter and I followed shortly after that and came home, I brought her (and her laundry) with me and we left her car there to look like she was still there.  She did her laundry, got some serious beagle therapy and we went to a store we needed to go to then I took her home.  When we got to her apartment, she wanted me to stay a while so I did.  Roomie had returned her keys to Otter,although Otter had to ask for them - which was also a problem with the bully, he did not want Roomie to give them back and then he was pretty mad at Roomie when she did give them back.  Roomie told me that she had never given the keys to anyone else including her parents - I don't think she did and neither does Otter, but we aren't 100% certain.  But there are 2 locks on the door and they don't match, Roomie only had the key to one of them.  Since the apartment office now knows that she does not live there any longer, they most likely would not let her in if she came back and asked them to let her in.

Even though Otter was exhausted last night, she said it was already less stressful knowing that Roomie was gone and she didn't have to deal with the problems anymore.  Roomie had already paid for her half of November rent, I reminded her that she was legally responsible for the entire half of the rent until the end of the lease before her father got there and she said that she would pay her half and since she had already given Otter that half, Otter did not say anything to remind her of that fact just in case she wanted it back or in case the bully did.  It would not have been returned.  Otter knows that Roomie has no intention of paying any more even though she legally should.  I think Roomie thought I meant just November instead of the entire remaining lease amount but at this point, it's ok.

One of the things I told Roomie, and I told her a lot - which Otter wanted me to do but I probably would have anyway, is that I wanted her out of my daughter's life.  I told her that I am not going to pick Otter's friends, but that she (Roomie) does not act like a friend does and that she's caused too much trouble.  Otter said that she agreed with me.

Otter talked to the apartment manager this morning as soon as they opened the doors and explained what had happened.  The lease did have a clause that she could have used to get out but it would have cost her a pretty good amount and she would have forfeited the deposit.  But the manager said that they really don't want to lose her as a tenant and they are going to let her transfer back to a one-bedroom unit.  The one that she had before has already been rented, but it was above a serious smoker and there were a lot of times when Otter would have asthma, allergy and headache issues because the smoke would come up through his ceiling/her floor.  So it's just as well that she can't move back to that unit.  I also think she'd prefer one that is "hers" entirely at this point, that never had Roomie in it.  The manager said that there are a couple of single units, one is in the same building although it's at the opposite end.  Actually, it's a separate building because of a firewall but it is two buildings built against each other.  The unit will be ready in about 3 weeks, probably not Thanksgiving week but the week before that.  Possibly even a little earlier.  The deposit will transfer, I don't remember if the manager said that they would charge her a pro-rated amount or not and I don't think she cares at this point.  She went ahead and took their offer and she paid the final rent for the 2-bedroom for November while she was there today.

I went over to Otter's after work today and she is 100% away from the stressed out, tired and worried girl she has been lately.  She has really not been able to relax and enjoy being in her own apartment for the last several months,   She said her stomach has been in knots for days, but it's not any longer.  She said that she could actually feel the stress leaving her body.  She is looking forward to moving into an apartment she can afford on her own, although it will be tight, and being able to decorate how she wants to.  The move itself is not going to be fun:  out her door, down three flights of stairs, out the door and down to the other end of the building, in the building's door, then up three flights of stairs and into the new apartment.  Quite a bit of her books and craft stuff is still boxed from the last move, but she's going to get boxes tomorrow and I'm going to go over there one day next week and help her pack.  She cleaned out some stuff before the last move but she said she may have more stuff to donate.

I just want my daughter to be happy and I think that she will be.  She knows that she'll have to be very careful financially but she is willing to do what she has to do.  If she had not been able to transfer to another apartment and had wound up having to pay to get out of the lease, she would most likely have put her furniture into storage and then stayed with us until she could get enough $ together to get another apartment, which would probably have been a month or so but she wouldn't have wanted to move back in long-term and I understand that.  We will never let her go without a roof over her head and a place to sleep, or a meal.  But she wants to be a responsible adult and we respect that.

The next several days are still going to be very busy, we are going to be dealing with getting the new booth built and then loading it with pachinko machines so I may still be away from the blog for a few days.  But the biggest worry we've had has been situated and we are Thankful.

*RHTW.  There is nothing She will not do to ensure Otter's safety.